happen. A person who expects a mishap will dosomething to avoid it.The idea that mishaps are unplanned orunintended implies two things. First, you shouldtrain people to understand what can and mighthappen so that preventive measures can be taken.For example, suppose you were an ElectriciansMate and understood that someone could turn ona power switch without checking first to see if itwere safe to do so. You would be more likely toprotect yourself by removing the fuses in thepower supply circuit and properly tagging out theswitch. Knowing what might happen couldprevent a possible mishap. Second, you shouldbelieve the unexpected will occur sooner or laterunless you take appropriate precautions. Forexample, suppose you are convinced that sooneror later you will get a foreign body in your eyeunless you wear goggles. You will then probablywear goggles when using a power tool. Believingthe mishap may occur will prompt you to protectyourself.When a person has a mishap, production isalways interrupted. The interruption may onlyinvolve a half an hour to get a minor injury treatedat sick bay. At the other extreme, a disablinginjury may mean the loss of a person for severalweeks or months and, therefore, the loss of aneeded skill. All these possibilities mean lostman-hours; lost man-hours means a delay incompleting the task for which the section ordivision is responsible.Why the concern about mishaps beingproduction losses? Mishap prevention is as mucha part of your job as assuring productivity.Experience has shown that the two go hand inhandwhen safety is improved, productivity isalso improved, and vice versa. Mishaps aresymptoms of inefficient methods, tools, equip-ment, machines, materials, or work areas. As asupervisor, once you accept this viewpoint, youwill also agree that promoting safety is part ofyour job.Promoting safety involves more than reportingmishaps and correcting dangerous situations aftersomeone has been injured, property has beendamaged, or work has been interrupted. Mishapprevention also requires alertness for, andresponse to, situations we shall call near mishaps.A near mishap is an event that was prevented fromresulting in property damage or personnel injuryby a fraction of time or someones timely action.Because no injury or damage results in nearmishaps, some supervisors fail to investigate them.Hence, the facts are not made a matter of recordand the causes go uncorrected. Sooner or later thesame conditions could occur and result in seriousinjury.Consider the case of a person who fell severalfeet from a ladder after slipping on a worn laddertread. The person was slightly shaken but withoutinjury. The fact that the sailor escaped injury waspurely circumstantial. If the causes of the nearmishap had not been corrected, the next victimcould have suffered serious injury.Some near mishaps involve equipment failureof some kind, such as a line parting, a controlmechanism malfunctioning, or the brakes of avehicle not holding. Some are instances ofpersonnel failure. Take for example a sailor whohad just finished hooking up a poorly loaded skipbox full of used boiler firebricks. After steppingclear of the skip box, the sailor signaled the craneoperator to hoist away. As the load was about10 feet off the deck and being swung over the side,the bricks shifted and several fell to the deck.Being clear of the load, the sailor was not struckby the falling bricks. Another near mishap.Near mishaps should be investigated wheneverreported or observed. They are forewarnings ofwhat might happen again. A mishap is almostcertain to follow when such forewarnings areignored.THE NAVY SAFETY PROGRAMThe objective of the Navys safety programis to enhance operational readiness. That is doneby reducing the number of deaths and injuries topersonnel and losses and damage to materialbecause of mishaps. The safety program is basedon the issuance of general safety precautions toeach person in the command. These includemishap prevention precautions and instructionsregarding special hazards encountered in the dailywork environment. The general safety precautionsalso include supervision in matters of safety,including continuing action and command interestin mishap prevention, and evaluation of theeffectiveness of the program.RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESAFETY PROGRAMThe responsibility and authority for theadministration of the safety program lies withinthe normal unit organization. Figure 8-2 showsa typical safety organization.8-6